United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon says that the “Protection of Civilians” sites guarded by UN peacekeepers in South Sudan are holding back the mission there from protecting civilians elsewhere in the country.
Since December 2013 the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has adopted a policy of sheltering people on a handful of small bases dotting the country in order to protect those people from violence. 180,000 people currently live on these bases, a fraction of the more than two million people who have fled violence or may face armed attack.
In a statement to the security council, Ban said the “resource intensive” PoC strategy has challenged UNMISS’ ability to provide physical protection for civilians outside the sites.
Ban said UNMISS has struggled to protect civilians outside its bases due to restrictions imposed by the government and opposition, poor infrastructure, and lack of security for UN aircraft. He also said that UNMISS troops have been reluctant to regularly patrol outside their bases.
The top UN official said UNMISS could be doing more to protect civilians in the country by redeploying some of its nearly 12,000 armed troops further afield.
“Forces relieved of some static site security tasks would be used to pilot temporary austere operating bases in areas of particular concern and expand the conduct of short-duration and long-duration patrols and dismounted foot patrols,” Ban said.
“Integrated patrols, leveraging not only the UNMISS force and police components but also involving human rights, protection of civilians, child protection, civil affairs and women protection advisers, would also be increased to bring to bear the full range of physical and other protection tools at the Mission’s disposal,” he added.
Ban urged deployment of unarmed aerial drones to strengthen UNMISS’ early warning and early response capabilities.
Earlier this year Ban Ki-moon revealed that the UN had studied the possibility of relocating ethnic Nuers from ‘protection sites’ in government-held areas to Nuer-inhabited areas under rebel control, but this was not acted upon.
Some PoC residents have left the sites to travel to neighboring countries, but the UN does not facilitate this movement or provide safe passage. The UN Mission has expressed hopes that people will return to their neighborhoods if provided police protection.